Gandhi Is Killed By A Hindu; India Shaken, World Mourns; 15 Die In Rioting In Bombay Three Shots Fired Read the full text of The Times article or other headlines from the day. Gandhi Is Killed By A Hindu; India Shaken, World Mourns; 15 Die In Rioting In Bombay Three Shots Fired Slayer is Seized, Beaten After Felling Victim on Way to Prayer DOMINION IS BEWILDERED Nehru Appeals to the Nation to Keep Peace -- U.S. Consul Assisted in Capture By Robert Trumbull Special to The New York Times RELATED HEADLINES All Britain Honors Gandhi; Truman Deplores Tragedy OTHER HEADLINES Many Homes Without Heat As Zero Cold Is Due Here; U.S.

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Warns Citizens In Palestine Fight: Consulate General Says They Face Loss Of Passports And All Protective Rights France Votes Free Gold Market, Legalizes Hidden Assets By A Tax New Delhi, India, Jan. 30 -- Mohandas K. Gandhi was killed by as assassin's bullet today. The assassin was a Hindu who fired three shots from a pistol at a range of three feet. The 78-year-old Gandhi, who was the one person who held discordant elements together and kept some sort of unity in this turbulent land, was shot down at 5:15 P. M. as he was proceeding through the Biria House gardens to the pergola from which he was to deliver his daily prayer meeting message. The assassin was immediately seized. He later identified himself as Nathura Vinayak Godse, 36, a Hindu of the Mahratta tribes in Poona. This has been a center of resistance to Gandhi's ideology. Mr. Gandhi died twenty-five minutes later. His death left all India stunned and bewildered as to the direction that this newly independent nation would take without its "Mahatma" (Great Teacher). The loss of Mr.

Gandhi brings this country of 300,000,000 abruptly to a crossroads. Mingled with the sadness in this capital tonight was an undercurrent of fear and uncertainty, for now the strongest influence for peace in India that this generation has known is gone. [Communal riots quickly swept Bombay when news of Mr. Gandhi's death was received. The Associated Press reported that fifteen persons were killed and more than fifty injured before an uneasy peace was established.] Appeal Made By Nehru Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in a voice choked with emotion, appealed in a radio address tonight for a sane approach to the future. He asked that India's path be turned away from violence in memory of the great peacemaker who had departed. Mr. Gandhi's body will be cremated in the orthodox Hindu fashion according to his often expressed wishes. His body will be carried from his New Delhi residence on a simple wooden cot covered with a sheet at 11:30 tomorrow morning. The funeral procession will wind through every principal street of the two cites of New and old Delhi and reach the burning ghats on the bank of the sacred Jumna River at about 4 P. M.

There the remains of the greatest Indian since Gautama Buddha will be wrapped in a sheet, laid on a pyre of wood and burned. His ashes will be scattered on the Jumna's waters, eventually to mingle with the Ganges where the two holy rivers meet at the temple city of Allahabad. These simple ceremonies were announced tonight by Pandit Nehru in respect to Mr. Gandhi's wishes, although many of the leaders desired that his body be embalmed and exhibited in state. India will see the last of Mr. Gandhi as it saw him when he lived -- ha humble and unassuming Hindu. News Spreads Quickly News of the assassination of Mr. Gandhi -- only a few days after he had finished a five-day fast to bring about communal friendship -- spread quickly through New Delhi. Immediately there was spontaneous movement of thousands to Biria House, home of G. D. Biria, the millionaire industrialist, where Mr. Gandhi and his six secretaries had been guests since he came to New Delhi in the midst of the disturbances in India's capital. While walking through the gardens to this evening's prayer meeting Mr.

Gandhi had just reached the top of a short flight of brick steps, his slender, brown arms around the shoulders of his granddaughters, Manu, 17, and Ava, 20. Someone spoke to him and he turned from his granddaughters and gave the appealing Hindu salute- palms together and the points of the fingers brought to the chin as in a Christian attitude of prayer. At once a youngish Indian stepped from the crowd- which had opened to form a pathway for Mr. Gandhi's walk to the pergola- and fired the fatal shots from a European made pistol. One bullet struck Mr. Gandhi in the chest and two in the abdomen on the right side. He seemed to lean forward and then crumpled to the ground. His two granddaughters fell beside him in tears. Crowd Is Stunned A crowd of about 500, according to witnesses, was stunned. There was no outcry or excitement for a second or two. Then the onlookers began to push the assassin more as if in bewilderment than in anger. The assassin was seized by Tom Reiner of Lancaster, Mass., a vice consul attached to the American Embassy and a recent arrival in India.

He was attending Mr. Gandhi's prayer meeting out of curiosity, as most visitors to New Delhi do at least once. Mr. Reiner grasped the assailant by the shoulders and shoved him toward several police guards. Only then did the crowd begin to grasp what had happened and a forest of fists belabored the assassin as he was dragged toward the pergola where Mr. Gandhi was to have prayed. he left a trail of blood. Mr. Gandhi was picked up by attendants and carried rapidly back to the unpretentious bedroom where he had passed most of his working and sleeping hours. As he was taken through the door Hindu onlookers who could see him began to wail and beat their breasts. Less than half an hour later a member of Mr. Gandhi's entourage came out of the room and said to those about the door: "Bapu (father) is finished." But it was not until Mr. Gandhi's death was announced by All India Radio, at 6 P. M. that the words spread widely. Assassin Taken Away Meanwhile the assassin was taken to a police station. He identified himself as coming from Poona.

It was remarked that the first of three attempts on Mr. Gandhi's life was made in Poona on June 25, 1934, when a bomb was thrown at a car believed to be Mr. Gandhi's. Poona is a center of the extremist anti-Gandhi orthodox Hindu Mahasabha (Great Society). The second possible attempt to assassinate Mr. Gandhi was by means of a crude bomb planted on his garden wall on Jan. 20 of this year. The only statement known to have been made by the assassin was his remark to a foreign correspondent: "I am no at all sorry." He is large for a Hindu and was dressed in gray slacks, blue pullover and khaki bush jacket. His pistol, which was snatched from him immediately after the shooting by Royal Indian Air Force Flight Sergeant D. R. Singh, contained four undischarged cartridges. Lying on a wooden cot in his bedroom, Mr. Gandhi said no word before his death except to ask for water. Most of the time he was unconscious.

When he was pronounced dead by his physician, weeping members of his staff covered the lower half of his face with a sheet in the Hindu fashion and the women present sat on the floor and chanted verses from the sacred scriptures of the Hindus. Those who could see these ceremonies through the windows knew then that Mr. Gandhi had expired. Pandit Nehru arrived at about 6 o'clock. Silently and with burning eyes he inspected the spot where Mr. Gandhi was shot and then went into the house without a word. Later he stood high on the front gate of Biria House and related the tentative funeral arrangements to several thousand persons gathered in the street and blocking all traffic. His voice shook with grief and hundreds in the crowd were weeping uncontrollably. Several thousand mourners formed orderly and quiet queues at all doors leading into Biria House and for a time they were permitted to file past the body. Later when it became evident that only a small fraction of the gathering would be able to view Mr. Gandhi's remains tonight, the body was taken to a second-floor balcony and placed on a cot fitted under a floodlamp so all in the grounds would see their departed leader.

His head was illuminated by a lamp with five wicks representing the five elements- air, light, water, earth, and fire- and also to light his soul to eternity according to Hindu belief. Pandit Nehru delivered Mr. Gandhi's valedictory in his radio address late this evening. In a quivering voice he said: "Gandhi has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. The father of our nation is no more- no longer will we run to him for advice and solace. This is a terrible blow to millions and millions in this country. "Our light has gone out, but the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light. For a thousand years that light will be seen in this country and the world will see it... Oh, that this has happened to us! There was so much more to do." Referring to the assassin Pandit Nehru said: "I can only call him a madman." He pleaded for a renewed spirit of peace, which had been Mr. Gandhi's last project, saying: "His spirit looks upon us- nothing would displease him more than to see us indulge in violence.

All our petty conflicts and difficulties must be ended in the face of this great disaster...In his death he has reminded us of the big things in life." The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948 The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948 Printer Friendly Version >>> "Just an old man in a loincloth in distant India: Yet when he died, humanity wept." This was the observation of a newspaper correspondent at the death of Mahatma Gandhi. The tragedy occurred in New Delhi as the gaunt old man walked to a prayer-meeting and was engulfed by one of history's great ironies - a life-long pacifist and promoter of non-violence struck down by an assassin's bullet. Gandhi's violent death came just months after the realization of his long sought-after goal - the independence of India from Great Britain. It was a bittersweet victory for Gandhi because along with India's independence came the partitioning of the sub-continent into two separate states - Muslim-based Pakistan and Hindu-based India - an action he thoroughly opposed. Gandhi did not take part in the celebration of India's independence.

Death of the Mahatma Vincent Sheean was an American reporter and author who had covered trouble spots around the world in the years prior to and during World War II. In 1947, Sheean traveled to India and became a disciple of Gandhi in an attempt to find meaning in the violent and disruptive events he had witnessed during his years of reporting. We join his account as he rushes to join a prayer-meeting with Gandhi in the heart of New Delhi in the early evening hours of January 30, 1948: "I got a taxi and went out to Birla House in time for the prayer-meeting. This time I was alone. I stationed my taxi under a tree opposite the gate of Birla House and walked down the drive to the prayer-ground. It was not yet five o'clock and people were still streaming in on foot, in cars and with tongas. As I came on to the prayer-ground at the end of the garden I ran into Bob Stimson, the Delhi correspondent of the B.B.C. We fell into talk and I told him about the journey to Amritsar and what had taken place there.

It was unusual to see any representatives of the press at the prayer-meeting; Bob explained that he had submitted some questions to the Mahatma for the B.B.C. and thought he might as well stay for the prayers since he was on the premises. He looked at his watch and said: 'Well, this is strange. Gandhi's late. He's practically never late.' ADVERTISMENT We both looked at our watches again. It was 5:12 by my watch when Bob said: 'There he is.' We stood near the corner of the wall, on the side of the garden where he was coming, and watched the evening light fall on his shining dark-brown head. He did not walk under the arbor this evening but across the grass, in the open lawn on the other side of the flower-beds. (There was the arbored walk, and a strip of lawn, and a long strip of flower-bed, and then the open lawn.) It was one of those shining Delhi evenings, not at all warm but alight with the promise of spring. I felt well and happy and grateful to be here.

Bob and I stood idly talking, I do not remember about what, and watching the Mahatma advance toward us over the grass, leaning lightly on two of 'the girls,' with two or three other members of his 'family' (family or followers) behind them. I read afterward that he had sandals on his feet but I did not see them. To me it looked as if he walked barefoot on the grass. It was not a warm evening and he was wrapped in homespun shawls. He passed by us on the other side and turned to ascend the four or five brick steps which led to the terrace or prayer-ground. Here, as usual, there was a clump of people, some of whom were standing and some of whom had gone on their knees or bent low before him. Bob and I turned to watch - we were perhaps ten feet away from the steps-but the clump of people cut off our view of the Mahatma now; he was so small. Then I heard four small, dull, dark explosions. 'What's that?' I said to Bob in sudden horror. 'I don't know,' he said. I remember that he grew pale in an instant.

'Not the Mahatma!' I said, and then I knew. Inside my own head there occurred a wavelike disturbance which I can only compare to a storm at sea - wind and wave surging tremendously back and forth. I remember all this distinctly; I do not believe that I lost consciousness even for a moment, although there may have been an instant or two of half-consciousness. I recoiled upon the brick wall and leaned against it, bent almost in two. I felt the consciousness of the Mahatma leave me then-I know of no other way of expressing this: he left me. ...The storm inside my head continued for some little time-minutes, perhaps; I have no way of reckoning. ...lt was during this time, apparently, that many things happened: a whole external series of events took place in my immediate neighborhood - a few yards away - and I was unaware of them. A doctor was found; the police took charge; the body of the Mahatma was, carried away; the crowd melted, perhaps urged to do so by the police. I saw none of this. The last I saw of the Mahatma he was advancing over the grass in the evening light, approaching the steps.

When I finally took my fingers out of my mouth and stood up, dry-eyed, there were police and soldiers and not many people, and there was Bob Stimson. He was rather breathless; he had gone somewhere to telephone to the B.B.C. He came with me down the steps to the lawn, where we walked up and down beside the flower-bed for a while. The room with the glass doors and windows, by the rose garden at the end of the arbor, had a crowd of people around it. Many were weeping. The police were endeavoring to make them leave. Bob could not tell me anything except that the Mahatma had been taken inside that room. On the following day he told me that he had seen him carried away and that the khadi which he wore was heavily stained with blood." References: Vincent Sheean's account appears in: Sheean, Vincent, Lead, Kindly Light (1949); Ashe, Geoffrey, Gandhi (1968). How To Cite This Article: "The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948," EyeWitness to History, (2005).

"Mahatma" is an honorary title and term of reverence rooted in the Sanskrit term for "great souled." It was conferred on Gandhi in 1915 by the Asian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse, was described as a nationalist and right-wing Hindu who blamed Gandhi for the partitioning of India. He was executed in November 1949. BBC News | World | The life and death of Mahatma Gandhi Thursday, January 29, 1998 Published at 19:05 GMT World The life and death of Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: 1869 - 1948 Fifty years ago on January 30, 1948, India's "Father of the Nation", Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated. Gandhi, one of the world's most famous pacifists, was killed by a fellow Hindu. The name "mahatma" means "great soul", and his philosophy of peaceful resistance is widely credited with having forced the peaceful end of British rule of India in 1947, the year before his death.

He was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869, into a family of merchants. Breaking with caste tradition, he went to England to study law when he was 19. His fellow students shunned him because he was an Indian. It was in London that he read Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience", which inspired his principle of non-violence. Remembering Gandhi He returned to India in 1891. But two years later he left again, this time for South Africa where he was to stay for 20 years. He was the country's first "coloured" lawyer to be admitted to the bar. Deeply troubled by the country's racism towards Indians, he founded the Natal Indian Congress to agitate for Indian rights in 1894. There he also developed his politics of peaceful protests. In 1906, he announced he would go to jail or even die before obeying an anti-Asian law. Thousands of Indians joined him in this civil disobedience campaign, and he was twice imprisoned.

Back in India He returned to India in 1914, and began campaigning for home rule and the reconciliation of all classes and religious groups. In 1919 he became a leader in the newly-formed Indian National Congress party. The following year Gandhi launched a campaign of non-cooperation with the British authorities, urging Indians to boycott British courts and government, and spin their own fabrics to replace British goods. This led to his imprisonment from 1922-1924. Thousands marched over 200 miles in protest over Salt taxes By 1930 M.K. Gandhi had a mass following. To protest against the British salt monopoly and the salt tax, he led thousands of Indians on a 200 mile (320km) march to the Indian ocean to make their own salt. Again, he was jailed. Gandhi had become convinced that India could never be truly free as long as it remained part of the British Empire. At the beginning of the Second World War he demanded independence as India's price for helping Britain during the war. Independence and partition India finally won independence in 1947.

But for Mahatma Gandhi, triumph was tempered with disappointment over the violent partitioning of the country into India and Pakistan. Violent riots broke out over partition Nearly one million people died in the riots that ensued between Hindus and Muslims. Mahatma Gandhi had always been against the partition. The year before he had said, "Before partitioning India, my body will have to be cut into two pieces." But the alternative to partition was thought to be civil war between Hindus and Muslims, and so at the last minute Gandhi urged the Congress Party to accept partition. Gandhi's great grandson, Tushar, remembering Mahatma When he saw the extent of the bloodshed, Mahatma Gandhi again turned to non-violent protest. He went on a hunger strike, saying he would not eat until the violence stopped and India gave back the 550 m rupees (about �40m) that it was holding from Pakistan. But his efforts to achieve reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims eventually brought him death. He was assassinated by a fellow Hindu, Nathuram Godse, who felt that Gandhi had betrayed the Hindu cause.

Mahatma Gandhi, aged 78, was on the way to a prayer meeting, when he was shot three times in the chest and died on January 30, 1948. Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi : The Facts Behind Assassination of Gandhi - The Facts Behind By Chunibhai Vaidya The killer of Gandhiji and his apologists sought to justify the assassination on the following arguments: Gandhiji supported the idea of a separate State for Muslims. In a sense he was responsible for the creation of Pakistan. In spite of the Pakistani aggression in Kashmir, Gandhiji fasted to compel the government of India to release an amount of Rs. 55 crores due to Pakistan. The belligerence of Muslims was a result of Gandhiji's policy of appeasement. Scrutinized in the light of recorded history, these prove to be clever distortions to misguide the gullible. Gandhiji in those days was very active in the rough and tumble of politics. The proposal for partition of the country and violent reaction against it generated tensions which ultimately resulted in sectarian killings on a scale unprecedented in human history.

For the ethnic Muslims, Gandhiji was a Hindu leader who opposed the creation of Pakistan on sectarian grounds. Ethnic Hindus looked upon him as an impediment to their plan to revenge the atrocities on Hindus. Godse was a child of this extremist thinking. The assassination of Gandhiji was a culmination of decades of systematic brain-washing. Gandhiji had become a thorn in the flesh of the hard core Hindus and in course of time this resentment turned into a phobia. Beginning with the year 1934 over a period of 14 years on as many as six occasions attempts were made to kill Gandhiji. The last one by Godse on 30-1-48 was successful. The remaining five were made in 1934, during the months of July and September 1944, September 1946 and on 20th January 1948. Godse was involved in two previous attempts. When the unsuccessful attempts of 1934, 1944 and 1946 were made, the proposal regarding the partition and the matter regarding release of Rs. 55 crore to Pakistan were not in existence at all.

The conspiracy to do away with Gandhiji was conceived much earlier. The grounds advanced for this heinous crime are clever rationalization to hoodwink the gullible. The staging of the play entitled, "Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy" is a clear proof of the fact that the mindset that led to Gandhiji's assassination has not disappeared from our national psyche. A civil society is wedded to the democratic method of resolving differences by a frank and open debate and evolving a working consensus. Gandhiji was always open to persuasion. Gandhiji had invited Godse for discussions but the latter did not avail of this opportunity given to him. This is indicative of the lack of faith in the democratic way of resolving differences on the part of Godse and his ilk. Such fascist mindset seeks to do away with dissent by liquidating the opponents. The Hindu backlash was as much responsible for the creation of Pakistan as the sentiments of the ethnic Muslims. The hard core Hindus looked down upon the Muslims as misguided "Mlechchh" - unclean and came to believe that coexistence with them was not possible.

Mutual distrust and recriminations led the extremists among both the groups to regard Hindus and Muslims as different nationalities and this strengthened the Muslim League's demand for partition as the only possible solution to the communal problem. Vested interests on both the sides stirred up the separatist sentiment and sought to justify their hate - campaign by clever and selective distortion of history. It is indeed a matter for serious concern for the nation that this mentality has not disappeared even today. Poet Mohamed Iqbal who wrote the famous song "Sare Jahanse Acchchha Hindostan Hamara" was the first to formulate the concept of a separate State for Muslims as early as 1930. Needless to state that this sentiment, in a sense, was strengthened by the Hindu extremists. In 1937, at the open session of the Hindu Mahasabha held at Ahmedabad, Veer Savarkar in his presidential address asserted: "India cannot be assumed today to be Unitarian and homogenous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations in the main - the Hindus and the Muslims." (Vide writings Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, Vol.

6 page 296, Maharashtra Prantiya Hindu Mahasabha, Pune). In 1945, he had stated "I have no quarrel with Mr. Jinnah's two nation theory. We, the Hindus are a nation by ourselves, and it is a historical fact that the Hindus and the Muslims are two nations." (vide Indian Educational Register 1943 vol. 2 page 10). It was this sentiment of separate and irreconcilable identities of the followers of these religions that led to the formation of Pakistan. In complete contrast to this mentality, Gandhiji throughout his life remained an un-compromising advocate of oneness of God, respect for all religions, equality of all men and non-violence in thought, speech, and action. His daily prayers comprised verses, devotional songs and readings from different scriptures. All people irrespective of their allegiance to different religions attended those meetings. Till his dying day Gandhiji held the view that the nationality of fellow citizens was not in any way affected by the fact of his subscribing to religious belief other than yours.

During his life, on more than one occasion he strove for the unity and equality among Hindus themselves as well as amity among Hindus and Muslims even risking his life. The idea of partition was anathema to him. He was given to saying that he would sooner die than subscribe to such a pernicious doctrine. His life was an open book and no substantiation is necessary on this score. Under Gandhiji's leadership, communal amity occupied the pride of place in the constructive programmes of the Congress. Muslim leaders and intellectuals of national stature like Abdul Gaffer Khan, Maulana Azad, Dr. Ansari Hakim Ajmal Khan, Badruddin Tayabji, even Mr. Jinnah himself were in the Congress fold. It is but natural that the Congress opposed the proposal for the division of the country but as a result of the incitement on the part of the lumpen elements among the Hindus and Muslims a tidal wave of carnage and lawlessness engulfed the nation. Faced with the breakdown of law and order in Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan, North West Frontier Province and Bengal, the Congress lost nerve. Mr. Jinnah adopted an inflexible attitude.

Lord Mountbatten being motivated by the time-limit given to him by the British Cabinet used all his powers of persuasion and charm to steer all the leaders to a quick solution and yet acceptable to all; but the adamantine attitude of Mr. Jinnah made everything except partition unacceptable. Partition seemed to be the only solution. In the nationwide elections of 1946 the Muslim league secured 90 per cent seats. Faced with such a scenario Congress found it difficult to keep up its morale. Gandhiji conveyed to Lord Mountbatten on 5th April 1947 that he would agree even if the British made Mr. Jinnah the Prime Minister and left the country as it was. But on the other hand Lord Mountbatten succeeded in getting the Congress to agree to partition. Gandhiji was in the dark about it; he was shell-shocked when he learned about it. The only remedy available to him was fasting unto death to dissuade his followers from acquiescence to a ruinous course of action. After sustained soul searching he came to the conclusion that in the prevalent situation such a step on his part would further deteriorate the situation, demoralise the Congress and the whole country.

The factors that weighed with him were (a) Importunate demands of a rapidly changing national scenario, (b) Non-existence of alternate set or leaders of proved nationalist credentials. The most perplexing and yet a pertinent question was Mr. Jinnah's most vocal propagation of the idea of Pakistan. With the intentional or otherwise efforts of Mountbatten, he succeeded in carving it out. Then, instead of making the two his targets why did Godse select one for murder who vehemently opposed the idea of partition till the resolution by the Congress accepting the partition of the country was passed on 3rd June 1947 and Pakistan became fate accompli? Or is it that, as Savarkar put it, he had no quarrel with Mr. Jinnah and his two-nation theory but, can one surmise that he and his apologists had real quarrel with Gandhi and Gandhi alone? In view of this, Gandhiji acquiesced into the situation. It is necessary to point out an aspect of Gandhiji's personality that made him a source of unabated distrust and dislike in the eyes of hard core Hindus.

Though he was a devout Hindu, he had the most amicable and warm relations with many who did not belong to the Hindu fold. As a result of this exposure he had developed an eclectic religious sense based on oneness of God and equality of all religious sense based on oneness of God and equality of all religions. Caste divisions and untouchability prevalent among the Hindu social organization distressed him immensely. He advocated and actively encouraged inter-caste marriages. Lastly he blessed only those marriages wherein one of the partners belonged to the untouchable castes. Vested interests amongst high caste Hindus viewed this reformist and other religious programmes with bitter resentment. In course of time it developed into a phobia and thus he became anathema to them. The matter regarding the release of Rs. 55 crore to Pakistan towards the second instalment of arrears to be paid to it under the terms of division of assets and liabilities requires to be understood in the context of the events that took place in the aftermath of partition. Of the 75 crore to be paid the first instalment of Rs. 20 crore was already released. Invasion of Kashmir by self-styled liberators with the covert support of the Pakistani Army took place before the second instalment was paid.

Government of India decided to withhold it. Lord Mountbatten was of the opinion that it amounted to a violation of the mutually agreed conditions and he brought it to the notice of Gandhiji. To Gandhiji's ethical sense the policy of tit for tat was repugnant and he readily agreed with the Viceroy's point of view. However, linking his stand in this matter with his fast he undertook, as you will find in the following lines, is an intentional mix-up and distortion of facts of contemporary history. The fast was undertaken with a view to restoring communal amity in Delhi. Gandhiji arrived from Calcutta in September 1947 to go to Punjab to restore peace there. On being briefed by Sardar Patel about the explosive situation in Delhi itself he changed his plans and decided to continue his stay in Delhi to restore peace with the firm determination to "Do or Die." The influx of Hindus from Pakistan who were uprooted and who had suffered killings of relatives, abduction and rape of women and looting of their belongings had created an explosive situation.

The local Hindus who were outraged by the treatment meted out to their Hindu brethren and the anger of local Muslims against reports of similar outrages on their coreligionists in India made Delhi a veritable witches' cauldron. This resulted in killings, molestation, torching of houses and properties. This caused deep anguish to Gandhiji. What added poignancy to this was the realization that it happened in India itself just after a unique incident in the history of mankind: doing away of the shackles of a colonial regime by non-violent means. It was in this background that he undertook a fast unto death to restore communal amity and sanity in Delhi. And, as if to allow the critics of Mahatma Gandhi a chance to mix-up and manoeuvre, the decision of the government of India to release Rs. 55 crore to Pakistan came during this period of his fast. The following facts dissolve this much touted thesis that Gandhiji had fasted to bring moral pressure on government of India to relent: Dr.

Sushila Nair, as soon as she heard Gandhiji proclaim his decision, rushed to her brother Pyarelal and informed him in a huff that Gandhiji had decided to undertake fast till the madness in Delhi ceased. Even in those moments of inadvertence the mention of 55 crore of rupees was not made which clearly proves that it was not intended by Gandhiji. b. Gandhiji's own announcement about his resolve on 12th January in the evening prayer meeting did not contain any reference to it. Had it been a condition, he would have certainly mentioned it as that. Similarly, there was no reference to it in his discourse on 13th January. Gandhiji's reply on the 15th January, to a specific question regarding the purpose of his fast did not mention it. The press release of the government of India did not have any mention thereof. The list of assurances given by the committee headed by Dr. Rajendra Prasad to persuade Gandhiji to give up his fast did not include it. We hope these facts should put at rest the 55 crore concoction.

With regard to the last allegation regarding appeasement of Muslims, it should be conceded that a certain amount of antagonism between Hindus and Muslims existed in the nation. The colonial power cleverly exploited it during its reign and the inevitable result was the division of the country. Long before Gandhiji appeared on the national stage, sagacious leaders like B. G. Tilak had started attempts to secure the participation of Muslims in the nationalist struggle. Under what came to be known as Lucknow pact, Lokmanya Tilak, Annie Besant and Mr. Jinnah evolved a formula under which the Muslims would get representation greater than what would be justified on the basis of the percentage of Muslim population. The frank and bold statement of Tilak defending the Pact is an eloquent refutation of the charge that Gandhiji began the policy of appeasement of Muslims. The author of the play "Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy", Shri Pradip Dalvi described the order of Maharashtra government banning the staging of the play as an attack on freedom of expression. This is a travesty of truth and perversion of the fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution.

The constitution also provides for ban on the abuse of this freedom vide its section 19(2). The implication of what Shri Dalvi and ilk profess requires to be carefully analysed. Under the guise of defending the freedom of expression what they are seeking to do is to advocate the right to murder those who do not agree with them; they seek to spread hatred and violence; they want to propagate the pernicious doctrine that under certain circumstances the murder of the opponent becomes an act of religious sacrifice. It is revolting to find that the heinous murder of one who was a living embodiment of nonviolence, peace and love and who was as defenceless as a naked new born child should be made scaffolding for a neo-fascist doctrine. Godse is no more but the mindset which gave birth to such distorted philosophy is unfortunately still with us. One can dismiss what he did as an act of a lunatic bigot. Assassination by itself is not as wicked as the attempts to rationalize, justify masquerade it as a religious act. Permitting such plays to be staged amounts to permitting mis-education our children. The only sane response to such insidious propaganda is unequivocal rejection thereof.

Gandhi assassination: Who was Nathuram Godse and why did he murder India's Father of the Nation? Gandhi assassination: Who was Nathuram Godse and why did he murder India's Father of the Nation? January 30, 2015 00:00 GMT Nathuram Godse at his trial for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948Wiki Commons Sixty-seven years ago today (30 January), the pre-eminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, stood in the gardens of a New Delhi building where a prayer meeting was about to take place. Nathuram Godse approached Gandhi at 5.17pm and bowed, then pushed aside one of Gandhi's grandnieces and shot him in the chest three times. As Gandhi collapsed, he shouted "police" and surrendered himself. Gandhi's death was mourned nationwide. More than two million people joined the five-mile-long funeral procession from Birla House, where he was assassinated, to Raj Ghat.

Erected as a memorial to Gandhi, Raj Ghat bears the epigraph "Hē Ram" – meaning "Oh God" – widely believed to be his last words. As the primary leader of India's liberation, Gandhi was the architect of a form of civil disobedience that would influence the world and later inspire the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. So who was Godse and why did he murder Gandhi? School and politics Godse was born in the Pune district, now situated in the Maharashtra state of India. Before he was born, his parents lost three sons and, fearing a curse was targeting their male children, he was brought up as a girl for the first few years of his life – including having his nose pierced. When he brother was born, he was brought up as a boy. Godse attended the local school in Baramati, before moving to an English-language school. He highly respected Gandhi during his school days, but dropped out of high school and became an activist with Hindi nationalist organisations the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing charitable and education non-profit, and the Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist political party.

He also started a Marathi-language newspaper, Agrani, which was later renamed Hindu Rashtra. Nathuram Vinayak Godse, bottom right, on trial for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in May 1948Getty Muslim interests Several reasons have been put forward as to why Godse assassinated Gandhi on 30 January 1948, after plotting the shooting with his friend Narayan Apte and six others. Godse left the RSS in the early 1940s and formed a militant organisation called Hindu Rashtra Dal. He believed Gandhi was giving in to Muslim interests, which he deemed anti-national. Speaking during his trial, Godse said: "It was not so much the Gandhian Ahimsa teachings that were opposed to by me and my group, but Gandhiji, while advocating his views, always showed or evinced a bias for Muslims, prejudicial and detrimental to the Hindu Community and its interests.

"I have fully described my point of view hereafter in detail and have quoted numerous instances, which unmistakably establish how Gandhiji became responsible for a number of calamities which the Hindu Community had to suffer and undergo." Non-violence It is generally understood that Godse felt the suffering caused by the partition could have been avoided had the Indian government lodged strong protests against the treatment meted out to the minorities – Hindus and Sikhs – in Pakistan. According to Godse, they too were influenced by Gandhi's non-violent approach and resorted to "weaker" methods. Godse felt Gandhi's fasts against the atrocities in Pakistan were insufficient. "I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred... if I were to kill Gandhi," Godse said in court.

"But at the same time, I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhi would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forced." Mahatma Gandhi leading the Salt March in protest against the government monopoly on salt production in 1930Getty Fasts As part of his philosophy of non-violence, Gandhi undertook 17 fasts during India's freedom movement – the longest of which was 21 days. Godse believed that it was Gandhi's last fast, announced weeks before he was killed, that forced the cabinet to reverse its earlier decision to give a cash balance to Pakistan on 13 January 1948. However, in March, the cabinet decided to withhold the money after self-styled liberators from Pakistan invaded Kashmir with support from the Pakistani army. Godse felt this was appeasing Pakistani Muslims at the expense of Hindus in India. Interestingly, Gandhi's fast was for the restoration of Hindu-Muslim peace and continued for three days after the cabinet announced its decision to give the money to Pakistan – which Godse may have not known.

Social mobility decline The Godses were Chitpavan Brahmins, a community concentrated in Maharashtra that were not esteemed in social ranking until the 1700s. In the 20th century, however, the group enjoyed social prestige – but has become anxious about its status in the midst of the transformation of India's socio-economic milieu. The threat to the established social hierarchy left the traditional elite anxious, according to Quartz. This is something Godse experienced personally. A clothes shop he had opened age 16 failed – and he took to tailoring, seen as a lower caste profession. Following the assassination of Gandhi, Godse was put on trial at the Punjab High Court and sentenced to death on 8 November 1949. Related Mahatma Gandhi assassination anniversary: 10 facts about Indian Independence Movement leader Mahatma Gandhi assassination anniversary: 10 facts about Indian Independence Movement leader January 29, 2015 17:27 GMT Mahatma Gandhi at a spinning wheel during a 'Charlea' demonstration in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh in 1925Getty On 30 January 1948, shots rang out in New Delhi that plunged India into silence.

Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian Independence Movement and the forefather of the philosophy of non-violent civil disobedience, had been assassinated by Nathuram Godse. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma, led the fight for India's independence from British rule, based on peaceful protest. Yet India's Father of the Nation was a complex figure, only advocating full independence from the British Empire in 1919. On the anniversary of his assassination, IBTimes UK looks at some lesser-known facts about Gandhi: 1. Gandhi supported Britain during the First World War. In 1918, he joined a government campaign for Indians to volunteer for the British Army. 2. Until 1918, he was an admirer of the British Empire and only came to advocate full independence after the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. At the event, Gurkha soldiers commanded by General Reginald Dyer killed more than 370 Indian demonstrators. After the massacre, Gandhi's views changed and he decided India must achieve full independence, leading the mass protests of 1919-22 and the Salt March of 1930.

Mahatma Gandhi leading the Salt March in protest against the government monopoly on salt production in 1930Getty 3. Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize five times and the Nobel Committee has publicly said it regrets never awarding him the coveted prize. When the Dalai Lama was awarded the prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said it was partly a tribute to Gandhi. 4. Gandhi walked and travelled almost 18km a day throughout his lifetime, which is enough to walk around the world twice. 5. Between 1893 and 1915, Gandhi lived in South Africa and led a series of campaigns for the rights of the Indian minority. He was no advocate of racial equality but aimed to ensure Indians were not treated the same as African nationals - who he referred to in writings as "kaffirs". 6. Although Gandhi is renowned for his non-violent philosophy, he served in the army during the Boer War. Only after the war did he realise the horrors of combat. Gandhi with a group of cheering well-wishers on a visit to London in January 1948Getty 7.

During the Second World War, Gandhi denounced Adolf Hitler for "conquest" and "domination" but also urged Britain to reach a peaceful settlement with Nazi Germany. 8. He wrote to Hitler to appeal for peace directly, addressing him as "Dear Friend" in 1940: "We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents," wrote Gandhi. "But your own writings and pronouncements and those of your friends and admirers leave no room for doubt that many of your acts are monstrous and unbecoming of human dignity, especially in the estimation of men like me who believe in universal friendliness." 9. Gandhi never held an official position in any political body during the final years of his life. 10. Gandhi gave detailed and controversial instructions to his follows as to how they might observe chastity, which were not always popular. The first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, described his advice as "abnormal and unnatural".

Gandhi, who married his wife Kasturba at the age of 13 in 1883, did not develop his censorious attitude to sex until he was in his thirties, after deciding to give his service to humanity by embracing chastity and poverty. Related

Question: In which year was Mahatma Gandhi assassinated?
Answer: 1948